SFPD gay Captain Del Gandio makes history
Captain Christopher Del Gandio has made history as the first out gay man to make that rank with the San Francisco Police Department.
He is also currently the highest-ranking out LGBTQ police officer in the department. Former police commander Teresa Ewins, a lesbian who had served with SFPD for 26 years, had that distinction until she left last year to become chief of police in Lincoln, Nebraska.
At the moment the highest-ranking LGBTQ person in the department is Matt Dorsey, a gay civilian who is director of strategic communications and part of SFPD Chief William Scott's command staff.
In a phone interview with the Bay Area Reporter, Del Gandio said reaching the promotional milestone in the department "feels great." "There may have been some gay men before me possibly who made it but didn't feel comfortable being out and proud, so I may not be the first," he noted. "But to be openly gay from the start, with the work I put in and representing the community and also working very hard at my job to get here, it feels like a milestone for sure." SFPD Lieutenant Lisa Frazer, a lesbian who at one time was a beat officer in the LGBTQ Castro district, hailed Del Gandio's breaking through the glass ceiling at the department in an interview with the B.A.R.
